Your Pet Insurance Guide

Interesting Stat on Pet Insurance Reimbursements

I just finished reading the March issue of Veterinary Forum Magazine. Tucked in the corner of page 24 was an interesting statistic. Pets Best Insurance reviewed its reimbursements over $500 and found that: 54% are for regular veterinary care 35% are for specialist care 11% are for emergency clinic care What this means is that almost half of significant veterinary bills occurs outside your regular veterinarian's office. Many clients don't even think about having to visit anyone but their regular veterinarian, but odds are at some point you will have to take your pet to an after-hours emergency hospital. Since... Read more →

Pet Health Insurance Exclusions: Miscellaneous

There are miscellaneous exclusions that aren't as important in the big scheme of things as hereditary or chronic conditions or wellness care, but pet owners are occasionally caught by surprise if they aren't aware of them. For example, most companies won’t cover behavioral problems, breeding or pregnancy–related expenses, cosmetic or elective procedures like tail-docking, ear trims, declawing, etc.(not an exhaustive list). I had a client who purchased a policy and when his pregnant dog developed problems, he was very upset because it wasn’t covered. It was clearly stated in the policy, but he likely didn’t even read the policy until... Read more →

Is Wellness Care Coverage Worth It?

Pet owners should purchase pet health insurance to cover those unexpected accidents or illnesses where the cost is unknown -- potentially hundreds to thousands of dollars. Coverage for wellness care where the procedures and costs are predictable should be a secondary concern. Since wellness procedures and products can be planned for and saved for, not all insurance companies offer wellness care benefits. Following your veterinarian's recommendations about wellness care is extremely important to your pet's overall health and well-being. Wellness care prevents disease and allows early detection and intervention that saves lives, reduces suffering, and saves you money because prevention... Read more →

Pet Health Insurance - Exclusions - Chronic Conditions

A chronic condition is a disease that will need long-term (ongoing) treatment after it manifests itself and diagnosis and treatment is started. Many chronic diseases (e.g. diabetes) can be treated and controlled for several years, allowing the pet to live a relatively normal (symptom free) life. Why is coverage for chronic conditions an important factor to consider when purchasing pet insurance? Because every pet, if they live long enough, will develop one or more chronic conditions that will require ongoing treatment - sometimes for years. Some pets can manifest symptoms of a chronic condition relatively young in life e.g. allergies.... Read more →

Pet Health Insurance - Exclusions - Hereditary Conditions

Updated 4/16/2019: When this blog post was originally published (2009), hereditary conditions were excluded from coverage by some pet insurance companies. Today, virtually every company covers these conditions, but some have extended waiting periods for certain conditions like hip dysplasia. Be sure to read a sample policy to see if there are any restrictions. To realize why I think this is an important factor to consider when choosing a company to insure your pet, take a look at these lists of conditions that are considered hereditary for each breed. The length of the lists may surprise you. Dogs Cats Also... Read more →

Pet Health Insurance - Exclusions - Pre-existing Conditions

The one exclusion that's virtually universal among pet insurance companies is pre-existing conditions. This means that any problem that your pet has shown symptoms of prior to purchasing an insurance policy or that manifest symptoms during the waiting period prior to the effective date of the policy won't be covered. Waiting periods for accidents and injury usually vary from none to 5 days. Waiting periods for illnesses usually vary from 15 to 30 days. However, there may be longer waiting periods for certain specific problems e.g. anterior cruciate rupture, intervertebral disk disease, etc. The conditions and waiting periods vary from... Read more →